First Impressions
by Sportsgirl815
Summary: Short piece based on the Pilot and the first impressions gained of each character.


Author's Note: All text in italics is from the show.

 _BILLY: Deep background. I'm not going to come close to using your name.  
SAM: [laughs] You're not going to come close to getting a quote, either.  
BILLY:Why are we sitting here?  
SAM: [taking a drink] You sat down.  
BILLY: Is Josh on his way out?  
SAM: No.  
BILLY: Is he?  
SAM: No.  
BILLY: I know he's your friend.  
SAM: He is.  
BILLY: Did Caldwell say...?  
SAM: Billy, I'm not talking about this.  
BILLY: Who do I call?  
SAM: No one.  
BILLY: Just tell me who to call.  
SAM: Well, you could call 1-800-BITE-ME.  
BILLY: Sam.  
SAM: He's not going anywhere, Billy. It's a non-story._

Sam is loyal. Beyond loyal.

Josh will never know how many times Sam has had his back. How many times Sam has stand up for him against people who would try to tear him down. How he would kick the ass of anyone who would try to ruin his best friend, the best man he knows..

Toby will never know how many times Sam has stood up for him. How many times he has told people that behind the cantankerous attitude is a man who will do anything to assure the right outcome, the just outcome. Sam knows Toby is a pillar of justice and will never let anyone forget that, doubt it or call it into question.

C.J will never know how many times Sam has defended her professionalism against the narrow minds who say a woman can never do the job she is doing. How Sam admires C.J so much he would never entertain the idea that her gender would have anything to do with how she performs her job. That he can't see past anything other than her professionalism and if anyone suggests otherwise he will utterly shut them down.

Donna will never know how Sam sings her praises throughout the west wing. How things that never should have ended up on her desk do, because Sam is sure she has the potential to be great.

None of them will never know. He is there colleague, he is their friend and he is always loyal.

 _LEO McGARRY: 17 across is wrong. It's just wrong. Do you believe that Ruth?  
RUTH: You should call them.  
LEO: I will call them.  
WOMAN: Telephone, Leo.  
LEO: I'm in the shower.  
WOMAN: It's POTUS.  
LEO: [sits down and picks up the phone] Yeah._

There is only so much Leo can fix. But damned if he won't try to fix everything, the things he can and the things he damned sure can't.

Leo can fix the confidence of the man who could be the president of the United States. Leo can fix the empty hole inside a brilliant young man searching for affirmation that he is a success. Leo can fix the fact that a brilliant writer and man who seeks justice has no people skills. Leo can fix a young idealist who needs to be given the right assignments before his light is snuffed out before he can do great things. Leo can fix the injustice that is an articulate, powerful woman being looked over just because of the fact that she is a woman.

Leo can fix all these things. There are other things he cannot fix. But he will try.

And right now he will fix that damned crossword and the fact that his idiot of a president just biked into a tree.

C.J. CREGG: You can have a normal life. You'd be amazed at how normal I can be. See,  
it's all about budgeting your time. This time, this hour, this is my time. Five a.m. to six  
a.m. I can workout, as you see. I can think about personal matters. I can meet an  
interesting man. [Her beeper goes off.] The trick is...  
MAN: Your beeper's going.  
C.J.: What?  
MAN: I think your beeper is going.  
C.J. checks her beeper while still running on the treadmill. What she finds  
on her beeper is distracting, however, and she falls off the machine.

C.J wished she could have a normal life. She tells herself she can. But she can't. And she wouldn't want to. Because most of her day is dedicated to things other than personal matters, to matters of more importance than her own self. So from five to six she can deal with her personal matters. But at six-o-one she's on to more important things.

 _In the dark office, JOSH LYMAN is asleep at his cluttered desk as a custodian  
vacuums the floor. His beeper goes off, waking him up. He checks his beeper,  
Then picks up the phone and quickly dials._

 _JOSH: Yeah. This is Josh Lyman. What's going on?_

Josh is an animal. Primal, fierce. He doesn't have a care for his own personal well-being. He will keep going only for the fact that he has a job to do, people to come through for and people who depend on him. All hours of the night, day are dedicated to one cause, to one group of people. And he will keep going until he can't.

 _FLIGHT ATTENDANT 2: [approaches Toby] Sir, I need you to turn off your computer.  
TOBY ZIEGLER: I'm just about done.  
FLIGHT ATTENDANT 2: I need you to turn off your laptop, sir. It interferes with our navigational systems.  
TOBY: You know when you guys say that, it sounds ridiculous to most people, right?  
FLIGHT ATTENDANT 2: Sir..._

 _Another Flight Attendant approaches._

 _FLIGHT ATTENDANT 3: Mr. Ziegler? A message was just patched up to the cockpit for you. I'm not sure I've got it right. POTUS in a bicycle accident?  
TOBY: [stops typing and looks up] You got it right. [reaches for his cell phone]  
FLIGHT ATTENDANT 2: You can't use your phone until we land, sir.  
TOBY: We're flying in a Lockheed eagle series L-1011. It came off the line 20  
months ago and carries a Sim-5 Transponder tracking system. Are you telling me I can still  
flummox this thing with something I bought at Radio Shack?  
FLIGHT ATTENDANT 2: You can call when we land, sir.  
TOBY: [calling as she walks away] Also, I never got my peanuts._

If there are three things Toby can't deal with its stupidity, lies and is no excuse for stupidity. As far as Toby is concerned educate yourself or don't bother to talk. It's a waste of time and oxygen. As for lies, he can't stand them. They obstruct the truth. They hinder justice. And bureaucracy, which is a combination of the two and drives him up the freakin' wall.


End file.
